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Sunday, April 1, 2018

Mother knows BEST!!!

One thing to contemplate is how we influence people with our opinions/actions without even realizing that we're influencing someone.

But the bottom line is that only WE (that's YOU and I) can make decisions/choices about our own lives. Anyone can influence you, but unless you decide to own that decision, it'll never happen. It doesn't matter if the subject is learning to free motion quilt or lose weight.

My mother unknowingly influenced me deeply with two things as I was growing up. I remember as a kid the UNENDING job of dusting the knick-knacks. My Mom is a hoarder and she couldn't get enough knick-knacks. It was crazy! It didn't matter that I had respiratory issues and we shouldn't have had so many knick-knacks and it shouldn't have been me to dust them, but that's beside the point. I made a vow to myself that I would NEVER have that many knick-knacks and that I would have someone clean my house for me. For almost my entire life, I've made sacrifices to other things to be able to afford a cleaning lady!

The second influence was regarding weight. My entire life, my Mom has been overweight. I never knew her when she wasn't. While she still a very active person and I never saw her not able to do anything because of her weight, I also made a vow to myself that I would never let my weight get out of hand. That drove me to the gym at 5 AM on countless days but I enjoyed the gym and am very thankful that I've built up a reasonable body and cardio system over the years. Yet, I'm as totally unathletic as they come. I can't play baseball, I can't play soccer, I HATE running, etc.

I would like to thank my Mom for those two influences. They have helped my quilting career enormously. Because I don't have to clean, I have loads of time to quilt and because I'm as active as I am, I'm able to do almost anything I want! And hopefully, the longevity in the family will allow me to use up my stash before I go!!! Well - you have to have a goal!

Over the years, my weight (like everyone else's has fluctuated). I used to have the luxury of eating chocolate, chips, and pop every day and I wouldn't gain an ounce. Without watching what I ate, my weight did creep up. This was years ago, but before it got way out of hand, I took command of that situation. I lost 20 pounds (see - I am very conscious of this whole weight business) and I was happy.

Then back to a sit-down desk job and that weight started to creep up again. Only 5 pounds, but that was a warning sign to me!

So when I went back to freelance, it was time to take control. Not only of my weight but what I ate. I had a major addiction to sugar. Candies? You bet!!! Tea with sugar? You bet!!! Cake with lots of icing? ANYTHING that was coated with sugar - I was in. I never paid attention to how much I ate in one day.

I did the D-Tox program in January and lost almost five pounds because of that. That's when I gave up the sugar and I haven't looked back. A D-Tox program is NOT hard, but you have to be committed.

WAIT - I need to make a MAJOR disclaimer here. There are a couple of things I need to remind you. I was on a mission when I started this whole business. That initially was to give up sugar. I had tried before and failed. Why? Because I wasn't committed. This post is NOT meant to preach to you my beliefs or practices. I just want to share my story and for those that have read this far, great. I can INFLUENCE you, but I can't make the decision to change. That comes from your heart and how much you want to make the change. Please don't think that I'm trying to convince you to do what I did because I'm not. If you're not ready, you won't be able to make any changes.

OK - back to the story. The D-Tox wasn't hard, but I had to give up a number of foods for a month. I had a lot of protein smoothies and was limited in what I ate. It was a bit strange because I didn't really know what I was doing. I muddled through. I ate a lot of the same foods every day. But I was OK with that. I wanted to stick out the program. I owed it to ME!

Then the 60-day challenge happened and I decided why not keep the momentum that I had started. I didn't have to do anything technically. It's a marketing thing to get gym members to try out different classes and hopefully get them to sign up. I did sign up for three sessions with a personal trainer of which I've only managed to one. The other two are coming up. I barely made it to the gym over the 60 days because of the deadlines I faced and then ending up sick.

But what I did decide to do was to track what I ate and how much I ate. I'm the one that chooses what to put in my mouth, so all I had to do was to choose healthy food. Right? The first step in getting rid of the sugar was HUGE. There were no temptations. I've had some sugar since I started the whole thing, but it's OK in moderation.

Bottom line - the last weigh-in was yesterday. I lost 2.9 pounds this past week. Yikes - how did that happen? I was 1 pound UNDER my goal!!!! Yippeee!!!!!! During the 60-day challenge, I lost a total of 12.5 pounds and if I count what I lost from the very beginning, it was 17.1 pounds in 3 months. I'm excited beyond belief. I now weigh less than before I was pregnant and that was 20 some years ago.

Which bring me to the pant story. Obviously, after losing 17 pounds, some of my clothes aren't going to fit properly. The biggest issue is the pants. OK and bras.

Pants - my pants

I had a couple of pairs of pants which were my favorites. I loved the pants and wore them often. Prior to all this business, there would be a wee bit of belly fat that flowed over the top of those pants. That was part of the reason I was spurred onto this thing. However the other day, DH suggested that I stop wearing the pants. You see, the butt was now sagging pretty badly and I no longer needed to undo the button or the zipper to pull them on.

Just yesterday I was at the park with those pants on. I had my keys attached to the belt loop at the front so I wouldn't lose the keys and my cell phone in my back pocket so I wouldn't lose that. Well, let's just say that I almost lost my pants! I guess he's right! I will have to retire the pants. But I don't want to - but I will!

So I gathered all the pairs of pants that I own and put them in one pile. I know there are going to be a few in there that will never fit because they are too big. Some of them are brand new!!!! What is the matter with me? I did manage to find a pair that fit me. Now I have to try them all on to see what I can wear and what I can't. Do I need to go and buy more? Probably not!!! No sense in having so many that I won't wear them. I need about 4 pairs of everyday pants and one pair of good pants. I'll only buy if I don't meet that quota.

Obviously, this is a topic dear to my heart because look how much I've gone on. I will share some tips with you in another post (another day) in the event that you want to try this.

My biggest problem now is to start eating a wee bit more (400 calories) every day in order to MAINTAIN my weight and stop losing. That's going to be very hard because I was already OK with the 1600 calories a day that I was eating. The trick will be to fill up those 400 calories with healthy nutritional food (now I sound like M).

Now's here the irony in all this. Guess what I'm doing today? For lunch? Yep - we're off to an Easter Sunday BRUNCH!!!! Which is hysterical. I don't think I'll have an issue finding something to fill up the extra 400 calories today!!!!

Anyway, if you're still with me, thanks.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

And PLEASE PLEASE remember - this is NOT a diet. This is a LIFESTYLE change. There is a HUGE difference.